Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. is a parasite in the bloated belly of American industry, spewing out automatic transmissions that shove commercial trucks and war machines down the throat of the world. This outfit, birthed in 1915 and hacked off from General Motors like a gangrenous limb in 2007, parades as an engineering titan while wallowing in a cesspool of ethical smears, courtroom brawls, and outright sleaze that ought to make any decent person retch. We’re not talking polished success stories here; this is a vicious chronicle of a company that allegedly bribes, exploits, and arms atrocities, all while raking in billions with a smug grin. Stick to the damning facts from lawsuits, recalls, and reports, because this scum doesn’t deserve the dignity of fiction – it’s already a nightmare.

The China Bribery Stench: A Disgraceful Cash Grab

Picture this: Beijing’s pre-Olympic frenzy in 2008, and Allison allegedly dives headfirst into the muck, bribing officials at Beijing City Bus to snag contracts for thousands of transmissions. Stephen Lowe, their ex-Shanghai boss, claims he got the boot for daring to call out this filth, where execs allegedly stuffed pockets with cash and lavish perks, thumbing their nose at the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. His 2011 lawsuit screamed of a company rotten with greed, settled quietly in 2012 without admitting a damn thing, but the taint sticks like oil on feathers. Analysts muttered about Justice Department probes, exposing how these bastards allegedly poison global deals for profit. Outrageous? Hell yes – this is corporate America at its most shameless, contaminating everything it touches.

Arming Atrocities: Military Ties That Sicken

Allison’s gearboxes don’t just grind in garbage trucks; they fuel the engines of empire, powering US-supplied death machines like the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, and Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks shipped straight to Israel’s killing fields. From 2023 onward, these have ravaged Gaza and the West Bank in operations that human rights watchdogs condemn as potential war crimes. Allison brags about serving 120 countries with a measly 6% defence revenue slice, but who gives a damn? This is blood money, plain and vicious, enabling horrors while the company hides behind bland compliance statements. No lawsuits yet, but the ethical corrosion is blatant – profiting off slaughter is their game, and it’s utterly disgusting.

Antitrust Scum: Crushing Competition Like Vermin

Allison’s iron grip on the market is no accident; it’s a calculated stranglehold. In 2006, Freightliner hauled their asses to federal court, accusing them of monopolising heavy-duty transmissions with sleazy tactics that jacked prices and killed choices. As GM’s lapdog back then, Allison allegedly played dirty to dominate. Echoes from 1993, when the Justice Department sued to block GM’s $525 million sale to ZF Friedrichshafen, fearing a competition-killing merger that’d leave buyers screwed. The deal died, but the legacy? A company that appears anti-competitive to its core, smearing the industry with predatory bullshit that chokes innovation and fattens their wallets.

Supplier Wars and Product Failures: A Parade of Incompetence

Even in their own backyard, Allison stirs up venomous feuds. In 2009, they dragged a supplier to court over allegedly shoddy parts that crippled production, sparking a nasty counter-suit that laid bare their quality control disasters. Fast-forward to the 2020-2025 nightmare: their 10-speed transmissions in GM beasts like the Silverado and Sierra have been recall magnets, from hybrid drive hazards to rear axles seizing at highway speeds. Software “fixes” that users slam as pathetic sticking plasters, plus a 2023 class action against GM over faulty Transmission Control Modules in Duramax-Allison combos, with breakdowns galore in heavy use. This isn’t mishaps; it’s negligent filth, allegedly endangering lives and bilking owners in a contemptible display of corporate arrogance.

Screwing Workers: Discrimination and Retaliation Horrors

Allison’s Indianapolis sweatshop, churning out misery for thousands, is a hotbed of alleged bigotry and backlash. Sherri Sherrod’s 2019 suit screamed race, sex, religion, age, and disability discrimination plus vicious retaliation-dismissed on summary judgment in 2021, but the scar remains. Walker’s 2012 racial bias claim? Tossed too. Mourning’s 2017 accusation of job sabotage? Nickson’s murky employment beef? These aren’t isolated gripes; they’re a pattern of workplace taint, where the company allegedly crushes dissent and fosters a toxic hellhole. Disgraceful doesn’t cut it-this is systemic contempt for human dignity.

Union Betrayals: Labour Exploitation at Its Ugliest

The UAW at Allison? A joke wrapped in corruption. In 2023-2024, workers rejected crap offers by 96%, poised for the first strike since the ’70s, only for the bureaucracy to ram through a “deal” critics branded a shameless sellout, padding union fat cats while screwing the rank-and-file. CEO pay skyrocketed 600% amid the chaos, a slap in the face to struggling families. NLRB complaints of unfair practices tie into UAW’s embezzlement scandals, with workers raging at the foot-dragging. This isn’t negotiation; it’s a conveyor of betrayal, where Allison colludes with crooks to grind labour into dust.

Trademark Thuggery and ESG Farce

In 2016, Allison bullied Fleetpride into federal court over alleged trademark misuse on fluids, a petty power play in their intellectual property fortress. Top it with Sustainalytics’ “highest controversy level” ESG slap, tanking their risk rating-likely from military messes, labour horrors, and more. This isn’t oversight; it’s a badge of shame, proving Allison’s “sustainability” is a contemptible lie.

The Cummins Collusion: A Duo Drenched in Disgrace

Allison and Cummins? A toxic tango since the 2000s, melding Cummins’ X15N natural gas engines with Allison’s 4500 RDS and eGen Flex hybrids for trucks and buses, hyped in 2025 tests and certifications. But with both mired in scandals – Allison’s litany of sins matched by Cummins’ emissions cheating debacles and more, as blasted everywhere without rehashing the gory details – this partnership is a match forged in ethical inferno. They peddle “efficiency” while drowning in mutual contamination, a network where shortcuts and cover-ups thrive, begging questions of shared guilt in an industry of vipers.

The Verdict: A Corporation Worthy of Contempt

Allison Transmission thrives like a cockroach, billions in the bank, factories sprawling across continents, but the pile of alleged bribes, antitrust slime, product disasters, worker abuse, and war profiteering exposes a beast that’s pure poison. This isn’t business; it’s predatory filth that mocks decency at every turn. Fuck them.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Supplier Series : Allison Transmission – The Collaborator